1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to bandages and tapes, particularly to items used in a temporary fashion, such as in a hospital or dialysis situation, to stop bleeding in puncture wounds. It involves both temporary tapes which may be handled by those wearing gloves and tapes which provide guidance and assistance in applying pressure to a wound.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past few years, in view of increasing health risks to practitioners in all areas of medicine, the use of rubber gloves has become routine. Furthermore, temporary tapes and bandages must be removed or changed frequently during many procedures. When one is wearing rubber gloves, however, the application and removal of tapes and bandages becomes a problem. The edges of the tapes are difficult to separate from the skin with a gloved hand, and the adhesive of the tapes sticks stubbornly to the gloves. Attempts to remove the used tape from the gloves often result in tearing or stretching the glove, which can defeat the very purpose of wearing the gloves in the first place.
For example, during kidney dialysis, or when blood is donated or received, needles and tubing must be taped to the patient's arm, and then removed; a bandage pad must be secured over the resulting wound until there is no longer a possibility of bleeding, and then it too is removed. During these procedures, the practitioners must wear gloves, due to the possibility of contamination from blood that is infected with hepatitis, the HIV virus, or other infectious agents. With the existing bandages and tapes, these procedures are difficult to accomplish while wearing gloves.
Up to this time, most of the development in this area has been focused on the separation of the tape from the backing which is used to protect the tape until it is used. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,613 (Koehnke) discloses a bandage in which non-adhesive tabs similar to those of the present invention are presented as a means for separating the bandage from its shield. Although the tabs of that invention may also allow for easier removal of the bandage from the skin if the adhesive used is not very strong, the perforations between the tabs and the adhesive part of the bandage present an undesirable possibility that the tabs will tear off of the bandage. In fact, this is presented as a feature of that invention, which is drawn to a more permanent bandage. The perforations of that invention also eliminate the possibility of placing the strips into a roll formation, with perforations between the strips to separate them from the rest of the roll. This is an important limitation, as a roll formation is particularly easy to use in a hospital or a similar setting where these tapes are used in large quantity (e.g., blood donation facilities). The roll eliminates the necessity for the gloved practitioner to remove individual packaging or a shield from each tape used.
One partial solution to this problem is to fold the end of the tape roll under onto itself, creating a non-adhesive tab. However, this maneuver, too, is difficult with a gloved hand, it must be repeated every time a piece of tape is used, and it creates only one tab end on each tape. In certain circumstances, it may be desirable to remove a tape by pulling in one direction particularly; however, with only one tab, the direction must be determined ahead of time, and the tape applied in the appropriate orientation for later removal.
Furthermore, at present, when blood is drawn from a patient, the puncture wound which results is stopped by placing a pad of multi-layered gauze over the wound and applying pressure thereon. Until a clot forms and bleeding is substantially stopped, continual pressure must be exerted against the wound to prevent loss of blood. Because the gauze pad which is placed on the wound is opaque, it is not possible to know the precise point at which to apply pressure. This is usually not a problem since under normal circumstances bleeding will stop in a matter of minutes as a clot forms over the wound.
In certain situations, however, a clot may take significantly longer to form. This can happen, for example, when a large needle is used, when an anticoagulant has been administered, or if the patient has poor clot-formation capabilities (e.g. if a patient is a hemophiliac). It is a particular problem in kidney dialysis, since a large needle is used and an anticoagulant is often administered. In some cases, pressure must be continually applied for as long as half an hour before a clot is sufficiently formed to stop most of the bleeding. In such a situation, it is important to apply pressure directly over the wound site in order to minimize blood loss over time.
One solution to this problem was proposed by the inventor in U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,133: a bandage pad with indicia on top and bottom, marking the place of the puncture wound. Also disclosed in that patent was a plastic piece, with a "nipple", which when placed over the bandage would provide concentrated pressure on the wound. However, the present invention combines a temporary tape particularly suitable for such applications with a marking system which is even better than those previously used.